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In biology, taxonomy is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms.
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Zoology is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one of the primary branches of biology. The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion ('animal'), and λόγος, logos.
The reticulated python is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and the third heaviest after the green anaconda and Burmese python. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wide distribution. In several countries in its range, it is hunted for its skin, for use in traditional medicine, and for sale as pets. Due to this, reticulated pythons are one of the most economically important reptiles worldwide. It is a man eater.
Herpetology is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. Birds, which are cladistically included within Reptilia, are traditionally excluded here; the separate scientific study of birds is the subject of ornithology.
Squamata is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards and snakes. With over 12,162 species, it is also the second-largest order of extant (living) vertebrates, after the perciform fish. Squamates are distinguished by their skins, which bear horny scales or shields, and must periodically engage in molting. They also possess movable quadrate bones, making possible movement of the upper jaw relative to the neurocranium. This is particularly visible in snakes, which are able to open their mouths very widely to accommodate comparatively large prey. Squamates are the most variably sized living reptiles, ranging from the 16 mm (0.63 in) dwarf gecko to the 6.5 m (21 ft) reticulated python. The now-extinct mosasaurs reached lengths over 14 m (46 ft).
Gekkonidae is the largest family of geckos, containing over 950 described species in 62 genera. The Gekkonidae contain many of the most widespread gecko species, including house geckos (Hemidactylus), the tokay gecko (Gekko), day geckos (Phelsuma), the mourning gecko (Lepidodactylus), and dtellas (Gehyra). Gekkonid geckos occur globally and are particularly diverse in tropical areas. Many species of these geckos exhibit an adhering ability to surfaces through Van der Waals forces utilizing intermolecular forces between molecules of their setae and molecules of the surface they are on.
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Necturus is a genus of aquatic salamanders in the family Proteidae. Species of the genus are native to the eastern United States and Canada. They are commonly known as waterdogs and mudpuppies. The common mudpuppy (N. maculosus) is probably the best-known species – as an amphibian with gill slits, it is often dissected in comparative anatomy classes. The common mudpuppy has the largest distribution of any fully aquatic salamander in North America.
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Raymond Terrence Hoser is an Australian snake-catcher and author.
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The Reptile Database is a scientific database that collects taxonomic information on all living reptile species. The database focuses on species and has entries for all currently recognized ~14,000 species and their subspecies, although there is usually a lag time of up to a few months before newly described species become available online. The database collects scientific and common names, synonyms, literature references, distribution information, type information, etymology, and other taxonomically relevant information.
The Wells and Wellington affair was a dispute about the publication of three papers in the Australian Journal of Herpetology in 1983 and 1985. The periodical was established in 1981 as a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on the study of amphibians and reptiles (herpetology). Its first two issues were published under the editorship of Richard W. Wells, a first-year biology student at Australia's University of New England. Wells then ceased communicating with the journal's editorial board for two years before suddenly publishing three papers without peer review in the journal in 1983 and 1985. Coauthored by himself and high school teacher Cliff Ross Wellington, the papers reorganized the taxonomy of all of Australia's and New Zealand's amphibians and reptiles and proposed over 700 changes to the binomial nomenclature of the region's herpetofauna.
Yara Haridy is an Egyptian-Canadian paleontologist and scientific communicator who specializes in the use of advanced analytical methods to study the evolution of bone and related skeletal tissues.
References
- ↑ Páll-Gergely, Barna; Hunyadi, András; Auffenberg, Kurt (2020). "Taxonomic vandalism in malacology: comments on molluscan taxa recently described by N. N. Thach and colleagues (2014–2019)". Folia Malacologica. 28 (1): 35–76. doi: 10.12657/folmal.028.002 .
- ↑ "On the troubles of naming species". The Economist. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian (7 September 2017). "A Few Bad Scientists Are Threatening to Topple Taxonomy". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Naish, Darren (20 June 2013). "Taxonomic vandalism and the Raymond Hoser problem". Scientific American. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
- ↑ Wüster, Wolfgang; Thomson, Scott A; O’shea, Mark; Kaiser, Hinrich (28 June 2021). "Confronting taxonomic vandalism in biology: conscientious community self-organization can preserve nomenclatural stability". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 133 (3): 645–670. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blab009. hdl: 2436/624028 . ISSN 0024-4066.
- ↑ Loizides, Michael; Alvarado, Pablo; Moreau, Pierre-Arthur; Assyov, Boris; Halasů, Viktorie; Stadler, Marc; Rinaldi, Andrea; Marques, Guilhermina; Zervakis, Georgios I.; Borovička, Jan; Van Vooren, Nicolas; Grebenc, Tine; Richard, Franck; Taşkin, Hatira; Gube, Matthias; Sammut, Carmel; Agnello, Carlo; Baroni, Timothy J.; Crous, Pedro; Fryssouli, Vassiliki; Gonou, Zacharoula; Guidori, Urbano; Gulden, Gro; Hansen, Karen; Kristiansen, Roy; Læssøe, Thomas; Mateos, Javier; Miller, Andrew; Moreno, Gabriel; Perić, Branislav; Polemis, Elias; Salom, Joan Carles; Siquier, José Leonardo; Snabl, Martin; Weholt, Øyvind; Bellanger, Jean-Michel (2022). "Has taxonomic vandalism gone too far? A case study, the rise of the pay-to-publish model and the pitfalls of Morchella systematics". Mycological Progress. 21 (1): 7–38. Bibcode:2022MycPr..21....7L. doi:10.1007/s11557-021-01755-z. ISSN 1617-416X.
- ↑ "Statement of the SAB on taxonomic vandalism for the Reptile Database" (PDF). The Reptile Database. 25 May 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2024.
